Ode to Summer
by jyuanka
Summary: Canary and Killua visit Whale Island to deliver a message to Gon, but things aren't as comfortable as they should be between the three of them.


Canary wondered if she had ever seen a place so soaked in light, wondered how the overwhelming scent of soap simultaneously eased her and set her off. A part of her appreciated the cleanliness, another, deeper part, was wary of it. In her experience, things that were glowing and smelled good usually concealed awful realities behind them, but perhaps not here.

Her eyes surveyed the room, studying it in cold detachment. This very act felt wrong, because she was missing her staff, missing her uniform, and she was, for the most part, in a civilian house. The lack of nen was disconcerting, knowing the owner of this room, and his history. The lack of nen was disconcerting, too, oddly enough, because it added to her sense of dread.

Throughout her life, lack of visible signs of danger caused not comfort, but abnormal eeriness, and Canary had to silence the voice in her mind, ever alert, telling her to watch out.

"Are you okay there, Canary?"

She sucked in a breath and turned around, meeting her companion's bright eyes with a smile. "Yes, I'm fine."

Her eyes moved about his face, searching for what, she wasn't sure. Was he feeling the same uneasiness? His face was set in a deliberate expression of boredom, one she could see through, but something told her he was truly disinterested in the room; his sharp blue eyes weren't shifting around like hers, they were staring up at the ceiling, their owner sprawled quite comfortably on his friend's bed, hands behind his head, legs crossed.

"How long are we going to stay here?" she asked him, still standing in the center of the room, disengaging herself from the space she occupied by not sitting, by not touching or moving anything.

Killua shrugged. "Not for long, it's just a little mission, we're not visiting or anything."

Canary nodded. "It's a lovely place."

He squinted at her. "Canary, do you wanna stay?"

"Do you?"

Killua uncrossed then crossed his legs, seemed to shrink a bit on himself. It was hardly noticeable, but all the same, she heard the evasive grunt he swallowed. "I like this place alright, but I don't want to stay."

III

"Hey, wait for me!"

Killua chugged off his shirt and sprinted after his two friends, following them into the water. "I remember there were some weird creatures in this pond, right, Gon?"

Gon laughed, drawing circles around himself in the green water of the pond. "Nothing you can't handle, Killua!"

"I know, dumbass!" Killua flipped his head awkwardly to the other side, standing on a sloping rock with his arms crossed. "I just don't want something gross to touch my feet while I'm swimming."

Canary was straying away from the other two, legs flapping gently in the warm water, the scent of weeds and humid air pervading her senses. She submerged her head, and tried to peek in the dense waters, to discern some shape or another, but she only saw her feet lulling in a lurching canvas of muddy green.

She brought her hands to her face, and creeped three long fingers out of the water, enjoying the different temperatures. The sun up above reflected misshapen patches of whiteness on the surface; Canary swayed her hand through them, disturbing their placidity. When she could no longer hold her breath, she popped her head out of the water.

"Hey, Canary, what are you doing?" Killua's voice reached her from above, and she had to turn around and crane her neck to see him standing alongside Gon on a high rock, hands on his hips. "We're gonna jump!"

"Jump with us!" Gon reiterated, and even from this distance, Canary could see the beautiful sheen on his brown skin, his long hair amess, toned arms waving for her to climb up and join them.

As she pushed herself out of the water, and started making her way towards them, she reveled in the warm soil under her feet, the unfamiliar, heavy tinge in the air, droplets of water bouncing off her hair, trickling on her back. Her hands coursed through brambles and leaves of plants she had no name for, ears trying to distinguish the differences between the various twitters and trills of hopping birds, half-lidded eyes wanting to see everything, take in all the sights around her, and when she finally reached the high rock, the world around her fell into unnatural silence.

"So, who goes first?" Killua asked, white locks stuck to his forehead, inspecting his two companions with challenging looks.

A bird zipped out of the branches in panic when Gon screamed in joy, and jumped.

III

Hair sprawled around his head like spilled ink, Gon titled his head to the side to look at Canary. "What have you guys been up to? Are you traveling with Killua all the time?"

Canary was lying beside him, one hand resting on her stomach, the other fiddling with a twig, and found herself contemplating the apparent lack of resentment in his voice. "We travelled together for a while, after I resigned from my job at the Zoldyck mansion." she said, not meeting his gaze, twirling the twig between her fingers. "But not as much anymore. Killua has his various jobs, and I have mine."

Gon smiled. "Have you thought of taking the Hunter Exam? I bet you can pass easily!"

That made her look at him. "I did think of it." she answered him, finally deciding to prop herself up and face him. "Though I believe I don't have any grand purpose to become a Hunter." Canary smiled. "Maybe one day I will."

His smile widened. "Yeah."

"What about you?" Canary asked, drawing circles between them with her twig. "The Nenless Hunter, you're quite famous."

Gon laughed. "Am I?" his eyes shifted up to the sky above them, the glow of the sunset reflecting in his eyes, then he looked back at her. "I've been doing many things, trying to visit aunt Mito as much as I can, since grandma passed away — and last year we discovered a new species of birds on Ioni Islands and I almost died trying to catch one!" he laughed again, and even though it was genuine, she could hear the self-deprecation in it.

Canary nodded awkwardly, her mouth drawn in a forced smile. Gon didn't seem to notice, and moved from one subject to the next, from one story to another, quick and disjointed, almost like he's attempting to fill in the space for the sake of evading silence.

Finally, he sighed, and smiled at her. "Do you like Whale Island, Canary?"

She returned his smile. "Very much."

Gon seemed to take pride in this, and his smile widened. "I'm glad!"

"Glad about what?" Killua's voice reached them before they saw him hopping over jagged rocks, leaping to the ground, and flopping gracelessly between them.

"Killua! Why did it take you so long?" Gon inquired and propped himself up, looking down at his resting friend.

Killua grimaced, throwing his arms up in exasperation. "Because Gon, I had to use the phone in the post office. _The post office_. In this century. You don't even have a landline in your house!"

"But Killua, what about your cellphone?"

Blue eyes looked everywhere but at Gon. "Dead battery."

"Why didn't you charge it with your nen?"

Killua groaned. "Last time I did that the battery fucking melted." he rolled his eyes. "I still don't know how you can function without a cellphone."

Gon frowned. "I told you, it got smashed to pieces in my last mission! I just never bought a new one."

"Typical." Killua spat out.

"Hey it's alright." Canary interjected, waving her hand between them, then shifted her attention to Killua. "How did the phone call go?"

"Fine, we're set to leave tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Gon echoed in a murmur. "I thought you were gonna stay for longer."

When she caught Killua shifting ever so slightly in his position, Canary spoke. "We came here to deliver a message for you, from a client who didn't know how to contact you."

Gon's shoulders slumped, his face contorted in a disappointed frown. "I knew there was a reason behind your visit, but still I thought you'll stay longer." his eyes wandered from one guest to the other. "Why don't you stay until the end of August? We can leave together then."

He wasn't even attempting to hide the pleading in his voice, his genuine desire for them to stay, and Canary found herself lost as to what words she should say next. She knew that now, she was free to do whatever she wanted, go wherever, live anywhere, yet she couldn't shake off the effects of more than a decade of loyalty and devotion to her previous master; if Killua wanted to leave, then she was going to leave, too, no matter her personal desires.

Canary wished to stay.

After a long moment of silence, after the pink tint the sunset had left in Killua's hair faded, and after every drop of water on their bodies dried, Gon sighed. "What does the client want?"

III

An hour before their departure, Canary found herself once again in Gon's room. Now that she'd spent time with him, she could tell that not only was his nen absent - as she had sensed upon their arrival - but so was his entire presence. She couldn't feel any Gon in this room, or at least a Gon that had bothered to spend any significant amount of time here, anyway.

If Gon was visiting his hometown as much as he claimed he was, then he was certainly not spending time in this room. In fact, he wasn't spending time in the house at all.

Canary glanced out of the window, and saw the two boys conversing in a peculiar mix of yelling and whispering, interspersed with awkward laughter, strolling back and forth in front of the house, skipping a rock, shifting the weight on their feet, chancing two steps away before tackling each other.

If she wanted to, she could discern the contents of the hushed, lounging words passing between them, but she didn't.

Downstairs, Mito greeted her with a bright smile, and a box of pastries.

"Don't let Killua eat yours, I already gave him his box." Mito told her with a playful mock frown, aware of the boy's inclinations.

The blue pastry box passed from Mito's hands to hers, Canary tucked it carefully under her arm, and looked up to meet the woman's soft gaze. "Thank you for your hospitality."

"Do it again." a whisper.

"Pardon?"

The smile on Mito's face waned. "Visit us again."

There was that tone again, almost the exact same one that trickled out with Gon's request, asking them to stay until the end of August, and again, Canary tried to grasp at proper words to reply. If this was just an act of courtesy she would've had no problem saying something, but it was more than thanking a host, which should have been enough, because nobody had ever hosted Canary with such warmth, if only for two nights.

Was Mito aware of what the two of them had in common? The distance, between them, and a loved one. Unintended, comforting to think of as inevitable, but isn't.

There was no resentment in Gon's voice, because she and Killua weren't as close as would appear. He knew that. Gon wanted them to stay longer as a good way to evade the staleness permeating this house, his relationship with his aunt.

Killua's cellphone battery doesn't melt when he uses his nen to charge it. Gon probably knew that, too.

Perhaps it was all something else, but Canary settled on this, settled for the vague connection these realizations created between her and Mito. Displacement, maybe even a bit of boredom. Bored with walking the distance, breaching gaps, tagging along, staying behind. Bored, and restless.

"I will."

Mito snapped out of her own thoughts. "What?"

Canary smiled, and reached a friendly hand to the other woman. "I will visit again."

There was no hesitation in Mito's firm grasp, her palm cold from washing the dishes. She winked. "Maybe _I_ will visit _you_."

Canary widened her eyes, and her mouth hung open for a second before she composed herself. "But I travel a lot."

Mito arched an eyebrow. "Who said I don't like to travel?"

Canary smiled and nodded. "Okay then, I'll give you my number."

As they said goodbye, Canary didn't mind leaving Whale Island all that much. There was something resembling the place quite beautifully in the woman waving goodbye to her, and in her subtle, casual proffer of companionship.

III

On the ship, she opened the box for the first time, tasted one of the delicious homemade confections, which she didn't know the name for, and sighed in bliss.

"Hey Canary, what's that?" Killua scooted closer to her, his eyes inspecting the box with unabashed greed.

She swallowed, savoring the sweetness in her mouth. "It's a gift from Mito."

"Eh?" he widened his eyes. "I can't believe she didn't give me one."

Canary smiled. "Oh? That doesn't seem like something she would do."

"I know!"

Slowly, Canary closed the lid, denying Killua's hungry eyes the sight of her pastries. "Have you checked in your bag? She might've left it there as a surprise."

Killua crossed his arms. "I'm sure there isn't any."

Canary offered him an apologetic shrug. "Then I suppose she gave me the box as a first time visitor, maybe it's a Whale Island tradition, hmm?"

"I don't remember such a tradition."

She hummed. "Then maybe she liked me more?"

Killua pierced his lips and trotted away, perhaps planning how to sneak some of her food from the box, but as Canary glanced back at the magnificent slope of Whale Island, at the blue summer sky, she knew; she wasn't going to give him any.


End file.
